(sorry if this has been posted/answered before i searched and couldnt find anything)
Hi I am fairly new to screen printing and just tried my first white ink on black shirt last night. I ran into a few problems. I am getting a lot of filbiration? I think thats what is called, where the ink is all spikey? (see pics below) and the ink seems to be coming out really really thick, i tried to take the best pics i could to show the thickness. the letters are are extremely thick, roughly 1/8 inch. I am using ryonet white ink, 110 mesh screen coated 1/1, and about a nickles worth of off contact. do i need more off contact? less? also I'm flooding the screen then pulling to clear the ink, then flashing then repeating and idk its just super thick. Also idk if the ink is supposed to feel like sandpaper, like i said this is my first white on black print, but it seems a little rough. any help would be appreciated.
Did you print print, flash then print? or print flash print?
Remember to check your off contact, and make sure your ink isn't drying up or
too thick, that will cause problems. What count screen mesh are you using to print the white?
If you're using a flood-stroke, I wouldn't recommend an additional pass to "clear the ink";
it will tend to "pool" excess ink and create a much thicker ink layer.
Also, image edge sharpness can often be improved with a bit thicker stencil;
a 1+2 emulsion coating (2 passes on inside of screen) will move towards improvement on that issue.
Off-contact has a lot to do with screen tension, so watch how quickly the screen "picks up" off the shirt surface as your squeegee goes past;
if it's more than an inch or two, and you're having to lift the screen out of the print, increase the off-contact distance.
FYI- Not all white inks are similar, and see if your distributor easily offers samples of different types.
(100% cotton whites, Poly and 50/50 LB Whites, Whites with a bit of "Puff agent" in them, Highlight whites, and your basic "multipurpose" formula)
Note that if you choose to P/F/P, you can often go up a step or two in mesh count and end up with a smoother and more flexible print surface as a result.
You'll still get good ink opacity.
Considering your thoroughness, you'll get this down with just a bit of adjustment and practice.
I agree with tlbays's suggestion. I'd probably try 61T (±155) on this with 1+2 coats of emulsion. Try to adjust your off-contact. P/F/P. I believe fibrillation has a lot to do with your ink. Mix your ink well before using. If the problem continues, try other white inks.
thanks for all the suggestions, i tried again tonight and got much better results! I will pick up a higher mesh screen and try coating 2/1. as far as mixing the ink goes, do you recommend just stirring it around before i put some on the screen? What about adding curable reducer?
If you add curable reduce it will reduce the opacity of the ink. Mix your ink very well and it should start to sheer down.
Your screen and print technique are the most importants parts of printing white. Make sure that you can feel your emulsion on the shirt side. You want it to have a bit of a ledge or some good thickness to it. Try coating two and two with the last coat on the inside of the screen to push it shirt side. Make sure your screen has good tension and you do have good off contact.
Then you want to flood with decent pressure and print with light pressure. This allows you to on top of the shirt and not push it through. THis will reduce "grin through" which is what you are seeing. Fibrillation happens after wash.
I agree with all the previous posts. Being in this for a short time, white ink continues to be the biggest challenge. I'll also agree strongly that the ink can be a big part of the problem. Just finished a white job where I started out with a ink that was 7 months old and really wanted to lay chalky. I missed is again which helped, but still not the matte finish I wanted. I opened a new can of Union Bright White and my finish came out great. Seems that white breaks down quicker than other inks. I wonder if closing the ink can while working on the job would help.
I'll also add that your build up on the screens need to by 2 on the outside and 1 on the inside at a minimum and your off contact needs to be at a great height. As far as off contact, I can tell you when I started the job I noticed that one side of my screen was slightly lower than the other and the low side of the image was somewhat chalky. ie because it wasn't releasing it pulled the ink upward. Rather than spending a lot of time to readjust my screen level I just taped 2 pennies to the top and bottom of the screen to get the desired levelness and the image was great all around.
It truly seems that unless all the variables are just about right on, white ink printing always seems to suffer. I've heard it said before that many new printers get spoiled by colored ink, as you could have a number of your setup variables wrong and still get a decent image. Could not agree more.
thanks again to everyone who posted. i will be burning a new screen tonight and i'll be sure to post and let you know how it goes. One more question though, as far as off contact everyone keeps saying a good amount, what would you consider a good amount? someone said two pennies? would everyone else agree? or would you say more or less than that?
First time trouble white on black 
